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A motorist passing by told the Rotorua Daily Post he had seen a vehicle about 30 minutes earlier doing what he believed was about 140km/h on Sala St and Devon St.

"The man said he rang police because the car was weaving in and out of traffic."

A woman, who only wanted to be known as Adele, said she was leaving her parents' house just past the safety centre at Rotokawa when a car pulled into the middle of the road coming towards her at speed to overtake vehicles.

She was heading into town taking her 3-year-old to kohanga reo.

She said two red police cars were chasing the car with lights and sirens on. She said her heart immediately jumped when she saw the car heading towards her.

"Only because I had my baby in the car, the adrenaline started straight away."

"My daughter knew what was happening and was saying 'mummy, mummy, the police cars, why are they going so fast?'," Adele said.

"I was hanging up my daughter's bag and my mum rang all worried because that car (the one that crashed) looks a lot like mine. She heard the bang after I left and was worried it was me."

Another witness called Brendon, who didn't want his surname published, was driving on Te Ngae Rd when he heard on the truck radios in his car that truck drivers in the area were warning of a dangerous driver on Te Ngae Rd.

Then moments later Brendon said he saw the driver. "He was fair hoofing it".

"One of the drivers said on the CB 'f**k look out of the way'.

"I have no sympathy for them if they are going to do stupid things like that."

Jo Dudson, who lives opposite the crash site, said she didn't see or hear anything however she said she believed the police should be praised.

"They do a fantastic job stopping these kind of people because today someone could have easily been killed."

The Serious Crash Unit will be investigating the crash.

The road remains open with traffic control in place, but motorists should expect some delays.